Twist in Big Tech M&A

Author

Litquidity Capital
July 14, 2025

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Good Morning,

SWFs are warming to active management and China, India is on track for a record IPO year, US Treasury posted an unexpected surplus, investors are bracing for a crucial earnings season, and Big Tech is turning to reverse-acquihires to avoid M&A scrutiny in the race for AI growth.

Besides their rapid global expansion, Bitcoin Depot is joining the wave of listed firms building Bitcoin treasuries, and they wants the key individual segment to stay involved. Check out their investor insights.

Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 7/11/2025 market close.

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Markets

  • US stocks slipped from ATHs on Friday as traders digested the trade was escalation and looked ahead to a crucial Q2 earnings season

  • MSCI EM stock index had its worst week since May

  • US Treasuries fell for a second-straight week

  • Germany 30Y yield rose to 3.23% to it highest since Europe's 2010 debt crisis 

  • Silver jumped 4% to its highest since 2011 as US-UK premiums rise

  • Dollar had its best week since February 

  • Euro fell to a three-week low

  • Pound dropped for a sixth-straight day for its worst streak since November amid UK growth concerns

  • MSCI FX index posted its biggest weekly drop in four months

  • Bitcoin soared passed $120k for the first time ever

    • Bitcoin volatility hit a seven-year low 

Earnings

  • What we're watching this week:  

    • Tuesday: JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, BlackRock, State Street

    • Wednesday: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, AMSL, United Airlines,  Progressive, Johnson & Johnson

    • Thursday: TSMC, Netflix, PepsiCo

    • Friday: Truist, American Express, Charles Schwab, 3M

  • Q2 earnings begins with full force this week as investors brace for the first reports since the trade war. Earnings Whispers' packed calendar above shows just how hard reports are hitting markets just this month.

Prediction Markets

  • The entire White House, DOJ, and FBI suddenly U-turned on the Epstein Files. Totally normal right?

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi. Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100.

Headline Roundup

  • US threatened 30% tariffs on EU and Mexico (BBG)

  • EU is ready to retaliate but still wants trade deal (RT)

  • US Treasury posted an unexpected surplus as tariff receipts surge (CNBC)

  • US tariff revenue surpassed $100B for the first time (BBG)

  • EU is planning a new tax on big corporates (FT)

  • Q2 earnings season poses a new test for stock market records (WSJ)

  • Private credit is luring family offices as PE exits slow (BBG) 

  • SWFs are warming to active management and China to weather volatility (RT)

  • US credit downgrades outpaced upgrades for first time in four years (BBG)

  • Asian stocks saw foreign inflows for a second-straight month (RT)

  • UK will offer 'concierge service' to foreign finance sector investments (FT)

  • Treasury seeks dealer input on market capacity for T-bill issuance (RT)

  • Fed considers changes to how it grades big banks (RT)

  • India is on track for a record IPO year (FT)

  • India widened global funds' access to $650B credit market (BBG)

  • India private banks are splashing cash to woo talent in wealth boom (BBG)

  • HSBC joined US banks in quitting climate coalition (RT)

  • JPMorgan will start charging fees to fintechs for customer data (BBG)

  • Canada's AIMCo named Justin Lord as CIO (BBG)

  • Goldman named Ben Wallace as co-head of Americas M&A (RT)

  • Google will offer major discounts to federal government cloud contracts (FT)

  • Jannik Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz to win Wimbledon (ESPN)

A Message from Bitcoin Depot

Bitcoin Depot's Vision for Crypto's Essential Physical Infrastructure

Bitcoin Depot (Nasdaq: BTM) isn't just the world’s largest Bitcoin ATM operator; they’re a growth-focused industry leader that’s expanding faster than ever. 

Their Q1 financials are gaining some attention:

  • Revenue up 19% YoY to $164.2M

  • Q1 net income up to $12.2M vs. net loss of $4.2M in Q4 2024

  • Adjusted profits up 92% YoY to $33.1M

The best part? Their growth hasn't historically been tied to Bitcoin's price. Instead, they ride the growing wave of crypto adoption, generating revenue with Bitcoin ATM usage. With Q1's momentum behind them, major asset management firms and everyday investors alike are taking notice. 

Bitcoin Depot is also building a serious Bitcoin treasury with over 100 BTC. Putting them in a select group of forward-looking public companies committed to the future of digital assets while giving investors additional exposure to Bitcoin growth.

The above is for general informational purposes only and is not investment advice nor does it constitute an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell a particular financial instrument. Bitcoin Depot is not a registered investment adviser under the U.S. Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Nothing contained herein constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Bitcoin Depot to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments

Deal Flow

M&A / Investments

  • MidOcean Energy, a unit of global energy investor EIG, emerged as the preferred bidder to acquire a minority stake in Malaysian state-owned oil giant PETRONAS' Canadian unit in a potential $6B-$7B deal

  • Australia's Macquarie shortlisted Brookfield, Stonepeak and French gas supplier Air Liquide for the final bidding round for South Korean industrial gas firm DIG Airgas, which could fetch up to $3.6B

  • Google agreed to pay ~$2.4B for talent and licensing rights from AI coding startup Windsurf after OpenAI's $3B acquisition of Windsurf collapsed

  • Apollo-backed Legendary Entertainment is weighing a takeover of $1.8B-listed Lionsgate Studios, the studio behind John Wick, The Hunger Games, and Twilight

  • UK's Lloyds Banking Group is in advanced talks to acquire digital wallet provider Curve for up to $160M

  • UK asset manager Jupiter agreed to acquire non-profit-focused investment manager CCLA in a $135M deal

  • Meta acquired voice AI startup PlayAI

  • French lender Credit Agricole is seeking approval to raise its stake in Italian lender Banco BPM above 20%

  • An court granted lender UniCredit partial relief by annulling some conditions on its Banco BPM bid, but the bank faces time pressure to complete the deal

  • Skydance Media held preliminary talks to acquire The Free Press

VC

  • Musk's AI and social media platform xAI is reportedly in talks to raise $10B at a ~$200B valuation led by Saudi's PIF

  • xAI raised a $2B investment from Musk's SpaceX 

  • Spacelift, an infrastructure orchestration platform, raised a $51M Series C led by Five Elms Capital

  • Stablecoin platform Agora raised a $50M Series A from Paradigm and Dragonfly Capital

  • RealSense, a startup building cameras that use stereoscopic imaging to enhance machines’ perception of the physical world, raised a $50M Series A from Intel Capital and others after spinning out from Intel

  • AirGarage, a parking management company, raised a $23M Series B led by Headline Growth

  • Vellum, an enterprise development platform for building and deploying mission-critical AI products, raised a $20M Series A led by Leaders Fund

  • AirMDR, an AI-native managed detection and response platform, raised a $15.5M seed round led by Race Capital

  • Two, a B2B payments platform, raised a $15.2M round led by Idékapital and Shine Capital

  • Arteria Technologies, a Indian supply chain-focused SaaS and embedded finance company, raised an $11.6M Series B led by ICICI Venture 

  • Knox, a FedRAMP-as-a-service platform provider, raised a $6.5M seed round led by Felicis

  • Rekaz, a Saudi SaaS platform for service-based businesses, raised a $5M seed round led by COTU Ventures

  • Apolink, a space-tech keeping satellites connected 24/7, raised a $4.3M seed round at a $45M valuation

  • Public policy-focused AI startup Helios raised a $4M seed round led by Unusual Ventures

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • $32B-listed food giant Kraft Heinz is preparing to break itself up, including spinning off much of its grocery business into a $20B entity

  • Bain Capital and Cinven-backed German drugmaker Stada resumed investor meetings ahead of a potential September IPO targeting a $11.7B valuation

  • Consumer market research firm NIQ Global Intelligence is set to raise over $1B at a $10B valuation in its US IPO next week

  • Firefly Aerospace, the spacecraft startup last valued at $2B in November, filed for an IPO

  • Chinese OpenAI rival Zhipu is considering shifting its planned IPO from China to Hong Kong to raise ~$300M with backing from Alibaba and Tencent

Debt

  • Caribbean mobile phone network provider Digicel Group is working with JPMorgan to refinance over $2B of debt as investor concerns ease

  • Brightline Trains Florida deferred an interest payment on $1.2B in munis, planning to cover it with operating cash flow or proceeds from ongoing equity and debt financing efforts

  • Goldman Sachs and Spain's BBVA are part of a lender group providing $584M in debt financing for Warburg Pincus' $935M LBO of a majority stake in German sports and safety equipment manufacturer Uvex Group

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • India's Adani Group is nearing a $1.4B acquisition of insolvent industrial conglomerate Jaiprakash Associates

  • Danish jewelry maker Pandora is exploring ways to restructure its China business 

Fundraising / Secondaries

  • IMM Credit & Solutions, the private credit unit of South Korean investments giant IMM Holdings, raised $730M for its first blind credit fund

  • Ex-Sequoia partner Matt Miller is set to launch UK-based VC firm Evantic Capital with $400M 

  • University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners (UTEC), a Japanese VC firm specializing in STEM startups, raised $326M for its sixth fund

  • Tech-focused secondaries investor OnePrime Capital raised $305M for its third flagship fund

  • Qatar-based PE firm Investcorp sold Italian cybersecurity firm HWG Sababa to a Coller-backed $280M continuation fund

  • Valante Capital, the PE arm of investment firm IDC Network, is raised ~$125M for its targeted $250M second Ascend Fund, aiming to broaden its LatAm focus

  • Seed investor Propel Venture Partners raised $100M for its fifth fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • Crypto firms are racing to secure banking foothold in US

  • SEC warned Robinhood that their tokens must follow SEC guidelines

  • Memecoin platform Pump.fun raised $600M in 12 minutes

  • Binance founder CZ accused Coinbase of targeting Trump's crypto venture

  • Check out our Crypto Sum newsletter for the full stories on everything crypto!

Exec’s Picks

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  • Bloomberg's Sonali Basak wrote a short piece on the dilemma faced by Wall Street's Young Stars; one that has stirred interesting policy changes at Wall Street's top firms.

  • The AI boom has made Jensen Huang's richer Warren Buffet's in wealth. Check out Bloomberg's live billionaire index here.

Financial Services Recruiting 💼

If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).

We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.

We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.

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